My Top Ten Books 2017

It’s finally here! One of my favourite posts to do every year! My Top Ten list! Wahey!! And after a lot of deliberation, I’m finally ready to share! Obviously, these are the best books I read in 2017, so not all of them were published this year. Also I don’t include rereads on these lists, because I clearly already love it if I’m rereading it. All reviews will be linked to with the picture of the book. Anyhoo onto the list! Here’s my top ten books of 2017 in ascending order:

Red Sister– when I think of books that really WOWED me this year, this jumps right into my mind. The world building was divine, the characters were kickass and this reminded me why I fell in love with the genre in the first place- you can’t ask for more than that!

Sisterhood Everlasting– *avert your eyes if you don’t want to be vaguely spoiled* oh my goodness I don’t think any book has destroyed me as completely as this one did. Because I was A MESS before/during/after reading this- but in a oh-this-cathartic-kick-is-just-what-I-needed kind of way. An amazing end to a wonderful series. And on a completely different note…

Blackwing– !!!! – that’s right- we’re barely into this list and I’m already at a loss for words. But I can’t help it- cos this book was crazy mind-blowing!! Beautiful, atmospheric, creepy, unique, gripping- this book had everything you could possibly want in a fantasy!

Going Postal– there is tight competition right now for my favourite Pratchett, but if ever there’s a gun to my head and someone tries to make choose one, this will be one of the books I’ll be frantically debating over (hopefully this horrible mental metaphor won’t end in my head being blown off). Pratchett at his best, this satire really got to the heart of what is most important to us Brits: the Post Office and so obviously that’s why I love it 😉

Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom– yes, I’m cheating to put them both on here under one heading, but c’mon, I cheat every year, at some point… Anyway, frankly, they both deserve to be on here because I LOVED THEM BOTH. Choosing between them would be like choosing between MY CHILDREN (or perhaps something a bit less dramatic). Whatever, this duology was just that good.

Wizard Heir– okay I have to pat myself on the back for not just putting the whole darn series on here- though I realise that might have been a bit cheeky, even for me. That’s why I’m going with the one that made me fall in love with Chima’s urban fantasy- and nothing else- final answer… sort of (just read the whole series will you?)

Maus- gosh this is one of the most memorable reads of the year. I think the imagery will be seared into my brain forever. What’s even more amazing is that I had never read a graphic novel before this year, yet thanks to books like this, I know that I’ve now got some serious catching up to do when it comes to the genre. Because this was magnificent and showed how moving art infused with literature can be.

Fahrenheit 451– another book that is burned into my mind for all eternity is Fahrenheit 451. Chilling and profound, this book brought me to my knees. Still, for all its darkness, it also carries a hopeful message and passes the beacon of freedom onto the reader. Truly a masterpiece.

All That Still Matters At All– again, I cannot truly articulate what this book means to me. A seriously underrated Hungarian poetry collection, this was deep, striking, beautiful, complex and heart breaking. Worth reading for poetry fans and layman alike.

Bear and the Nightingale– I reckon regular readers of this blog were probably getting suspicious as this list went on with no sign of this book… but of course that’s because it had to be here on the list. The heart knows no reason and this book spoke to me on the most primal level. In case you didn’t already know, I’m a little (A LOT) in love with it.

So have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? And what was your favourite book(s) of 2017? Let me know in the comments!

Oh these are brilliant picks for your top ten this year, although I haven’t actually read many of them myself I have to admit. 🙂
Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom are favourites of mine too, in fact Crooked Kingdom was probably my number one read of last year. Also I’m not really surprised to see The Bear and The Nightingale on this list, so many people have loved that book and I remember you talking about how amazing it was in your review so I would have been very surprised to have not seen it somewhere on this list! 😀 ❤
Great post, and happy reading for 2018. 🙂

I read Fahrenheit 451 during my high school years and I loved it so much ! (even thoug I preferred 1984 by Orwell)
Great list, the six of crows duology is amazing too !
My top 5 will be online tomorrow 🙂

Oh I totally get that- for me it’s on a par- I find them both powerful in their own way- but I can completely understand preferring one.
Thank you! It really is 😀
Awesome- I just read it- it was great!!

And here I was thinking I would finally be able to close my Good Reads to read list fir this year. But of course instead of maybe getting one book to add, I now get 9 because of this post (number 6 was the only one that was on my list already😊). Oh well…that one year sabbatical is starting to sound better by the minute lol. Great post, and thanks for sharing another couple of great sounding novels 😀

I think that Fahrenheit 451 and Maus are the only books on this list that I’ve read. And I agree with you on both of them. I’m not usually a huge fan of graphic novels. Most of the graphic novels that I’ve read weren’t enhanced by the graphics and would have worked fine as regular novels. Maus is one of the only ones where I felt like the images were as important as the narrative, and that form served function and vice versa.

I really can’t wait to read The Bear and the Nightingale. I’m wondering if I should save it for when I get a chance to really dive into it?

Well I’m so glad you liked both of them 😀 Honestly, it’s one of the first graphic novels I’ve ever read and I only started this year. I really did feel like it worked especially well and I couldn’t believe how powerful it was.

Wonderful!! Oh yes I get that- I do that with books I’m really looking forward to 🙂

Man, I read Maus over a decade ago and it still sticks in my mind. It wasn’t an easy read, that’s for sure, but I’m glad I did.

I’m waiting for the REd Sister series to finish before starting, but it really sounds promising. And I hated his BrokenEmpire one, or whatever that one with the psychopathic asshole Jorge was the main character in is called.

I had a sneaky suspicion Bear and the Nightingale would make your list. The others are more surprising. I don’t think I’ve ever read a graphic novel. It’s maybe about time and I’ve also been very tempted by Blackwing.

Totally agree on Six of Crows and the two are essentially just parts of the same story so it’s not cheating 😉

Great picks! I loved The Bear and the Nightingale and it’s sequel, The Girl in the Tower. I’d also have on my list Red Sister and Blackwing. I read Fahrenheit 451 in high school and loved it, but I need to reread it. One other book that I absolutely fell head over heels in love with was The Luster of Lost Things, by Sophie Chen. It’s a magical little book that even now, months after I read it, makes me smile when I think of it.😊

Thank you!! That’s so fantastic- I’m really glad to hear that about the sequel in particular! Fantastic- I really hope you like them 😀 And I’m glad you liked Fahrenheit 451 too! 😀 Oh brilliant- I really want to check it out now!! 😀

Yes yes yes! Excellent first choice, the same as mine! I enjoyed Fahrenheit 451 but wouldn’t initially have called it amazing – but after taking some time to reflect on it the whole concept of the story has really stayed with me. Now, I’d recommend it to anyone. Also, as I’ve said “I really must read Six of Crows” on three different blogs in the last week alone – I really must put that on my 2018 TBR.

Great list!!! I am so glad to see Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom in your list, they made it to my list too!!!! Quite a few books on here that I haven’t read yet, so I will definitely be adding them to my TBR. Happy New Year!!

Ooooo, I’m going to have to bump Sisterhood Everlasting up on my tbr if you liked it so much! It’s been on my list for a while now, but I’ve been kind of iffy because what if it’s completely cheezy and ruins everything? Thanks for the vote of confidence!

I had to read Maus for university, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It was also my first graphic novel so I didn’t really know what to expect. It’s definitely a book that’s left a lasting impression on me!

Glad that Maus made the list! I read this graphic novel for English class back in high school. At first I wasn’t used to the art style (I was used to reading Japanese graphic novels lol!) but I fell in love with the story and came to understand the style better. It is one of my favourite graphic novels of all time 🙂

The ones on your list that I have read are Six of Crows and Bear and the Nightingale which were both a little on the slow side for my taste but I still loved the story in them regardless. I’m making note of some of your others because they look really good too! 🙂

Great list! The Bear and the Nightingale is at the very top of my TBR for next year. Hopefully, I can get to it in January. And I’m so glad you liked Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom so much! They both totally blew my mind back when I read them. I also hear lots of good things about Red Sister and I really want to read it! Definitely adding that to the top of my TBR as well!

Thank you!! Fantastic- I really hope you like it 😊😊 Yes!! I completely agree!!! I was a bit nervous cos of the hype, but they totally surpassed my expectations. Brilliant!! I so hope you like it as much as I did!! 😊

I remember reading Maus a few years ago and being completely enthralled by the story and the way it was presented, it’s definitely a genre I’d like to revisit. It looks like you made a great list; Fahrenheit 451 in particular has been recommended to me a number of times and I think this will be the year I finally get to it!

I’m really happy to see Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom on your list! Those two books are simply wonderful! 😀 I’m also happy to see The Bear and the Nightingale as your number one, it makes me even more exited to get around to it! (Which will hopefully be soon.)

Amazing books! I’m glad to have read 4.5 books (#3,4,6,8,10) out of this list (only read half of the Six of Crows duology haha); never thought that would be possible hahah Here’s to even better books waiting for us in 2018!! 😀

I have a HORRIBLE confession to make: I DNF’d Sisterhood Everlasting once they got to Greece (you know what I mean). I just couldn’t handle the extreme change from the previous. Does this mean I should go back and try again?! You’re the only person I know who has read it!

Other than that I’ve only read Maus and Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom from this list. Red Sister is super high on my TBR– but I am waiting for the whole series to come out first. Seriously. I need to binge read fantasy because I FORGET EVERYTHING.

hehe yes I totally, totally get that- honestly, without making spoilers in the post, it’s hard to go into, and I can understand why people didn’t like the change of tone- but I thought it ended up being a super powerful book about grief. I do think it’s worth it in the end because it was incredibly emotional- but it’s very hit and miss with fans, so I’d get why you wouldn’t want to.

Cool!! hahaha I totally get that!! I do that for a lot of series, and as much as I say I want to read books the second they come out, I realise that I also prefer to read whole series back to back 😉

Perhaps instead of binge reading Sisterhood Everlasting at the end of the series, I’d appreciate it more now? I was SO jarring… that’s what happens when you only binge read series, I guess.

I love reading series books back to back. I find that I get swept up in things more easily, which is great. The only down side is that I find I rarely write the reviews for those books as time passes and I forget all my thoughts and feelings on the first few books… Oops!